It would have been impossible to pay wages of N7.8bn without Tinubu’s reforms — Okpebholo

Edo State Governor Monday Okpebholo has hailed the economic reforms of President Tinubu notig that it would have been impossible to pay salaries without the President’s reforms.

The governor spoke in Benin City during a one-million-youth march organised by the City Boy Movement in support of his administration and President Tinubu’s re-election.

The governor said Edo residents were aware of what he described as the benefits of the Tinubu administration’s economic reforms to the state.

He said the state’s monthly wage bill had risen above N7.8 billion, arguing that ongoing development projects and payment of salaries would have been difficult without increased revenues resulting from reforms by the Federal Government.

“We are paying so much on salaries and at the same time, development is ongoing, projects are ongoing. Look at our flyover, if not for the reforms of the president, where will we get money for all this?”

“You can see how many primary healthcare centres we have built since we came into office, over a hundred and eight across the state,” Okpebholo said.

On education, the governor said his administration had renovated more than 87 primary and secondary schools across the state and increased subvention to higher institutions from N41 million to more than N700 million.

“How could we have gotten this money, if not the man President Bola Tinubu that is courageous enough to have removed the fuel subsidy,” he said.

Okpebholo also cited Tinubu’s tenure as governor of Lagos State, saying the president had introduced reforms there that, in his view, improved the state’s administration.

He criticised unnamed political opponents who he said were responsible for past mismanagement of public resources and accused them of promising to restore fuel subsidy for their own benefit.

“Those people that believe they can steal Nigeria’s money are telling you they will restore subsidy, because it is from that subsidy they make their money from,” he said.

“People that sold our assets in this country without proper accountability, are they the ones that want to rule Nigeria? Those with supermarket, let them continue to do their commodity business.”

Okpebholo has repeatedly said he wants Edo to deliver 2.5 million votes for Tinubu in 2027. He made a similar appeal to newly elected chairmen and vice chairmen of the state’s 18 local government areas in September.

A youth representative at the march commended the governor for what he described as improvements in security across the state, saying this was helping to build investors’ confidence.

He said the march was organised to demonstrate the youths’ loyalty to Okpebholo and Tinubu and mobilise support for APC candidates in the 2027 elections.

The 2.5 million-vote target is a political pledge by Okpebholo. Previous reports have quoted opposition figures questioning the feasibility of the target, while the governor and his supporters have continued to defend it.